Sale verdict on George Ford with the Six Nations just four weeks away
Alex Sanderson has backed the winter club form of George Ford, claiming the No10 England shirt for the upcoming Guinness Six Nations is a straight contest between the Sale out-half and Harlequins’ Marcus Smith.
Ford came back into the Test-level reckoning last August, starting his first match for England since March 2021, and he went on to start in the opening round at the Rugby World Cup, kicking all his team’s 27 points in their impressive pool win over Argentina in Marseille which included a 10-minute drop goal hat-trick.
Owen Farrell’s suspension opened up the selection at the time to Ford and while he spent October on the bench at France 2023, he has arrived into 2024 with his chances of regaining the No10 shirt enhanced by Farrell’s decision to take a Test rugby sabbatical.
Ford has started seven games back at Sale since England’s bronze medal finish in Paris and ahead of Friday’s game at home to Bristol, which he will miss due to a knee injury, club director of rugby Sanderson has reflected on his player’s form in recent months with the February 3 Six Nations opener away to Italy now just over four weeks away.
“George’s form is always consistently high,” he said in reply to a query from RugbyPass at the midweek Sale media briefing. “He is one of the lads whose worst game and best game, there is not a lot of difference. That is what makes him such a quality professional and asset to your club.
"The game could die unless something dramatically changes…"
– Sale Sharks boss Alex Sanderson, with Liam Heagney ???, on the planned implementation of RFU 'hybrid' contracts in England in 2024. #EnglandRugby pic.twitter.com/B3Z8d5UCrl
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 3, 2024
“In the games we have played, he has played really well and has been pivotal in terms of his tactical decision-making and kicking. Like, no one can argue with that – he is the best in the game at that barring Owen on his day but Owen is out of the question.
“Similarly I think he has come on as a leader; England do as well. And certain aspects of his game which we are still looking to grow here at the club are ones I think he wants to improve upon, like his ability to attack the line, to shift the point of contact and to be a threat himself. We have seen elements of that.
“I think his game is in good shape generally speaking. Whether or not he has been at his best every week I think that has also ebbed and flowed with our own form, so he is not totally to blame on that. He has got to be in with a firm shout.
“There are only two of them really for me to pick from as well. Fin Smith has been going well but those two, Marcus Smith and him with the experience they have got and the variety that they can have in different ways, puts them up there for us.”
Ford, who turns 31 in March, is midway through his second season at Sale. He signed a two-plus-one-year deal with the Manchester club when he switched from Leicester in the summer of 2022 and is expected to soon confirm he will be staying at AJ Bell for that third season and won’t activate a clause in his contract to leave if he wanted to at the end of year two.
Sale reached the Premiership final last season, their first since 2006, and they are again challenging to make the end-of-year play-offs with Ford proving an increasing vocal influence regarding how Sanderson’s squad goes about its business.
“One of our big focuses this season has been our efficiency and effectiveness at communication, that’s player-coach, player-player stuff as a leaders group, how they can ascertain what is needed and thin slice the comms to the wider group,” explained Sanderson about Ford’s growing leadership.
“There have been a few occasions where his reflection and honesty have forced us to grow. A distinct lack of leadership, good leadership at Quins and Exeter were both highlighted, particularly in the Exeter game from him. They took that and I’m taking it by way of my message in the week saying we need to be better.
???? ???? |? v ?
Here are #YourSharks challenged to tame the bears ?.
? Ricky makes his first Prem start
? RDP slots back in the 10 jersey
? Our pack remains unchangedRead more via the link below ?. #SALvBRI | #SharkTime
— Sale Sharks ? (@SaleSharksRugby) January 4, 2024
“And so as a result of that, there is a more equal share of communication, that communication is more intentional so we have leaders on every session knowing what they are driving.
“At the weekend just an example (the 17-21 loss at Northampton), he is like, ‘Look, 65 minutes in, 17-14 up, this is a pressure moment in a big game of which we are going to face again hopefully towards the back end of the season’.
“He is like, ‘The question we need to ask is how can we be better as a leaders group, what kind of leaders group do we want to be in this moment’ and that is coming from him, that is how we opened up on Monday morning and they have come up with solutions with that which I’m really happy and it’s player-driven that, it’s George Ford driven.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Don’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
41 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
41 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
41 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
39 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
1 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
41 Go to comments